Only 2,200 professionals declared income above Rs 1 crore in FY19, says CBDT

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on February 13 reiterated that only 2,200 professionals had indeed declared annual income above Rs 1 crore in FY19, as had been stated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his February 12 address at an event.

PM Modi's statement that it is was unbelievable but true that only 2,200 people in the country had declared earnings of Rs one crore per annum, drew flak on social media, as people contested that the number was incorrect.

In a series of tweets, the CBDT explained that 5.78 crore individuals filed income-tax returns in FY19. Of these, only around 1.46 crore individual taxpayers were liable to pay income tax.

"In the ITRs filed by individuals in the current financial year, only about 2,200 Doctors, Chartered Accountants, Lawyers &such other professionals have disclosed annual income of more than Rs.1crore from their profession(excluding other incomes like rental, interest, capital gains etc,” read a tweet.

CBDT also noted that 3.16 lakh individual taxpayers disclosed income above Rs 50 lakh in FY19, while 8,600 have disclosed income above Rs 5 crore in the whole of the country.